Saudi campaign against maid abuse

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Saudi campaign against maid abuse
OP - December 23, 2008, 02:01 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7796051.stm
Quote
By Magdi Abdelhadi
BBC Arab Affairs Analyst

A Saudi Arabian campaign against the abuse of domestic workers in the country has sparked controversy.

There are an estimated 1.5 million foreign domestic workers in Saudi. Many complain of abuse.

Critics say the ads misrepresent Saudi society. Rights activists say abuse is common, and acknowledging it is a first step towards solving the problem.

A report by Human Rights Watch earlier this year said some foreign workers are treated like slaves.

The adverts appeared on Saudi-owned satellite channels and newspapers.

A television advertisement, the first of its kind, shows a Saudi man shouting angrily at a foreign maid for failing to iron his clothes properly.

Another sequence shows the man in his car honking and yelling racist abuse at an Asian man.

The sketches end with him praying, asking God for help and mercy as a caption appears with the words "man la yarham, la yurham (He who shows no mercy, will receive no mercy [from God])".

This is the slogan of the Rahma (Mercy) campaign which has appeared on Saudi-owned satellite channels , MBC and Rotana, and some newspapers.

The print version of the campaign, which appeared in the London-based Al Hayat, showed a maid held inside a kennel with a dog collar around her neck, and a foreign chauffeur harnessed like a horse with a Saudi woman holding the reins.

'Misrepresentation'

But major Saudi newspapers have refused to publish the advertisement, apparently because for them, it was too shocking.

Some writers and journalists have called for an end to the campaign because they believe it shows Saudi people as cruel and heartless.

Journalist Terad Al al-Asmari, told Islamonline, that the campaign overlooked abuse of domestic workers in other societies.

"It could lead to hatred between foreign labour and the Saudi citizen," he argued.

A Saudi academic, Dr Moutlaq al-Mouteery, criticised airing the campaign on satellite channels. Dr Mouterriy wrote saying that "discussing domestic problems on satellite channels turns them into a scandal [for Saudi Arabia]".

The director general of the Saudi advertising agency, behind the campaign, Qaswara al-Khateeb, defended the media drive.

"We sometimes forget that those who we deal with are helpers are actually human beings," Mr Khateeb told the Saudi newspaper Arab News.

"We are obliged to treat them well. Why ask them to do things that we can't bear ourselves? If we have mercy on them, then Allah will have mercy on us."

Mr Khateeb told the BBC that the campaign was financed by a big Saudi corporation, but he refused to disclose which, adding that the backers did not want the message of the campaign to be associated with any particular group.

Quote
Rights activists say abuse is common, and acknowledging it is a first step towards solving the problem.

Absolutely correct

I was not blessed with the ability to have blind faith. I cant beleive something just because someone says its true.
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #1 - December 23, 2008, 02:16 PM

Recognizing that non-Saudis/Arabs/Muslims are just as human as Saudis/Arabs/Muslims is also a step towards solving this problem!

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #2 - December 23, 2008, 02:25 PM

I always found it quite ironic how muslims made a huge deal about how Palestinians were treated badly by the Israelis. Even the ones who THEMSELVES were domestic servants in the gulf states would go on about the "yahoodis", not realising the fucking irony that they themselves were treated like slaves in conditions much worse than a Palestinian employee in Israel.

BTW I'm not belittling the plight of the Palestinian people here , just stating the bloody obvious about the ridiculous double standards that many muslims have.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #3 - December 23, 2008, 02:37 PM

The Saudi are going to get a big wake up call in the next 3 to 5 years.

The way it is going they might end up having their daughters taking jobs as maids; oil futures today do not look like getting above 55 USD per barrel by 2011; also 2011 will be the year that electric cars will enter the mass market in Europe and North America.

By 2020 the only option they might have for their oil is to pour it on their cornflakes for breakfast.
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #4 - December 23, 2008, 02:55 PM

Quote from: TomTom on December 23, 2008, 02:37 PM
The Saudi are going to get a big wake up call in the next 3 to 5 years.

The way it is going they might end up having their daughters taking jobs as maids; oil futures today do not look like getting above 55 USD per barrel by 2011; also 2011 will be the year that electric cars will enter the mass market in Europe and North America.

By 2020 the only option they might have for their oil is to pour it on their cornflakes for breakfast.

I wouldn't be so confident about this, the oil market is one of the most volatile and unpredictable, especially long term. Electric cars in Europe and North America may not have such a large impact if oil demand from China and India continues to increase. There is also no guarantee that electric cars will be in significant demand in Europe and America, especially so soon after a recession (assuming we are even out of recession by 2011.) Even $55 a barrel is not an unprofitable price for oil.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #5 - December 23, 2008, 06:01 PM

Quote from: TomTom on December 23, 2008, 02:37 PM
The Saudi are going to get a big wake up call in the next 3 to 5 years.

The way it is going they might end up having their daughters taking jobs as maids; oil futures today do not look like getting above 55 USD per barrel by 2011; also 2011 will be the year that electric cars will enter the mass market in Europe and North America.

By 2020 the only option they might have for their oil is to pour it on their cornflakes for breakfast.

The change to electric cars isnt going to make that much of a difference in the short term and i seriously doubt that 2011 is going to be much of a revolution year as the vast majority of cars will still be running on oil

More importantly the demand for oil derivatives eg plastics isnt decreasing at all.

We are in favor of tolerance, but it is a very difficult thing to tolerate the intolerant and impossible to tolerate the intolerable.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #6 - December 23, 2008, 09:17 PM

Kudos to those Saudis who are funding and promoting this campaign. The problem has been swept under the carpet for far too long. The reason it has been swept under the carpet for far too long is because of the idiots who say things like this:

Quote
But major Saudi newspapers have refused to publish the advertisement, apparently because for them, it was too shocking.

Some writers and journalists have called for an end to the campaign because they believe it shows Saudi people as cruel and heartless.

Journalist Terad Al al-Asmari, told Islamonline, that the campaign overlooked abuse of domestic workers in other societies.

"It could lead to hatred between foreign labour and the Saudi citizen," he argued.

A Saudi academic, Dr Moutlaq al-Mouteery, criticised airing the campaign on satellite channels. Dr Mouterriy wrote saying that "discussing domestic problems on satellite channels turns them into a scandal [for Saudi Arabia]".

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #7 - December 23, 2008, 09:34 PM

I agree wholeheartedly Oz, I've just been thinking about the incidences of 'servant ' abuse prosecuted in the UK over the years and it's been either Saudi or Nigerian slave drivers every time. So fair play to those in Saudi who want to do something about their country's tarnished image. Not before time.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #8 - December 25, 2008, 03:56 PM

Critics say campaign misrepresents Saudi society

Saudi mercy campaign highlights Islamic values

Quote
A Saudi media campaign drawing attention to the abuse many migrant domestic workers face and emphasizing Islamic teachings of mercy to one's subordinates is sparking controversy within Saudi society.

Rahma, Arabic for ?mercy?, is a series of TV sequences that advocate for a change in attitude towards foreign workers. The campaign consists of clips of common domestic abuse of servants by wealthy owners which air regularly on Saudi-owned satellite channels MBC and Rotana.

Each sequence is followed by Prophet Muhammad's hadith-saying-about the reciprocity of mercy between people.

One such sequence shows a Saudi hostess yelling at her South Asian servant for not moving quickly to put food on the table. The hostess hurls insults at the maid, calling her ?abnormal? and telling her to ?get out of my face.?

A caption then appears with the Prophet?s hadith: "man la yarham, la yurham (He who shows no mercy, will receive no mercy [from Allah])."

Rahma was launched a month ago by an anonymous private local firm denouncing abuse of domestic workers.

?We sometimes forget that those who we deal with as helpers are actually human beings. We are obliged to treat them well. Why ask them to do things that we can?t bear ourselves? If we have mercy on them, then Allah will have mercy on us,? Kaswara Khatib, director general of Full Stop Advertising which helped launch the initiative told the Saudi daily Arab News.

Saudi HR association welcomes initiative

Zuhair al-Harithi, spokesman of Saudi Association for Human Rights (SAHR), a government-body working with Saudi families and foreign workers in the Kingdom, welcomed the Rahma campaign.

"The campaign is certainly an important step in raising awareness amongst Saudis," he told AlArabiya.net.

"It also shores up the initiative of the Saudi government and media in tackling local issues our society faces," he added.

Another sequence shows a Saudi man denying his overly worked South Asian servant his wages and refusing to grant his Saudi employee time off work for family emergency. The clip ends with the Prophet's words.

The campaign?s print version includes ads advertised in local newspapers under the title ?Don?t Strip Me of My Humanity,? some of which show a maid held inside a kennel with a dog collar around her neck, and a foreign driver tied like a horse with a Saudi woman holding the reins.

Critics complain

Despite its Islamic and human message, the campaign has several critics complaining.

Journalists and writers against the campaign called for its end, arguing that it portrays Saudi people as harsh.

Journalist Terad al-Asmari, said to local sources that the campaign overlooked abuse of domestic workers in other societies.

"It could lead to hatred between foreign labor and Saudi citizens," he said.

A Saudi academic, Dr. Moutlaq al-Mouteery, also spoke against airing the campaign on satellite channels. He wrote that "discussing domestic problems on satellite channels turns them into a scandal [for Saudi Arabia]."

But Saudi human rights lawyer and activist Abdel Rahman al-Lahim defended the media drive, arguing that the campaign is a vital way to bring an important issue to light.

"Unlike conferences and seminars, a media campaign like Rahma reaches the average man and woman, who are more often than not, those same employers who mistreat their servants," he told AlArabiya.net.

"As Saudis we must have the courage to face problems of abuse on all fronts. We should be the first to address them, rather than wait for others to tell us to," he explained referring to HRW reports that documented domestic abuse in Saudi Arabia in 2006.

Government action, local initiative

An estimated 1.5 million migrant domestic workers flock to Saudi Arabia in search of work and a descent life, yet many end up experiencing issues like emotional and physical abuse and non-wage payments at the hands of their wealthy employers, a 2006 HRW report said.

Lack of a legal framework regulating the relationship between domestic workers and their hirers is the main cause of human rights violations, and has mobilized the SHAR and the Saudi ministry of labor in the past years to put in place legal guarantees and protections for laborers.

"SAHR in collaboration with the Saudi ministry of labor came up with an alternative to individual sponsorship of domestic workers. Sponsoring depends on private relations between families and brokers."

"The Saudi government has taken up the initiative of legalizing professional contractors and corporations through which Saudi families can hire a maid based on a written contract between the company, worker and family."

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #9 - December 25, 2008, 11:15 PM

Quote
Critics say the ads misrepresent Saudi society.

The ever-present excuse for all evil, ancient practices... *rolls eyes*

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #10 - December 30, 2008, 07:19 PM

Quote from: TomTom on December 23, 2008, 02:37 PM
The Saudi are going to get a big wake up call in the next 3 to 5 years.

The way it is going they might end up having their daughters taking jobs as maids; oil futures today do not look like getting above 55 USD per barrel by 2011; also 2011 will be the year that electric cars will enter the mass market in Europe and North America.

By 2020 the only option they might have for their oil is to pour it on their cornflakes for breakfast.

It seems like the perfect opportunity to do the following:

(1) Blockade Saudi ports and make it plain to them that they will not export a drop of oil to anybody.

(2) Any overland piplines that export oil must either be shut off or blown up.

(3) If the complain, we really go after their achilles heel, which is lack of fresh water. We can threaten to destroy their desalination facilities if they get uppity. Remember, their allah guy did not bless them with so much as a creek or a river.

(4) They also have many foreign assets that could be confiscated.

(5) If they abuse the foreigners that are there, we should remin them that one missile could take out Mecca.

With oil prices being low, I cannot think of a more perfect time to play hard ball with them.
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #11 - December 30, 2008, 07:54 PM

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(5) If they abuse the foreigners that are there, we should remin them that one missile could take out Mecca

And thus solving the problem of maid abuse in Mecca in one masterstroke.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #12 - December 30, 2008, 11:39 PM

Well, it would send a clear message I suppose.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #13 - December 31, 2008, 01:04 AM

I cannot think of a more evil regime on this planet that the regime in Sodomy Arabia.

To me, they make the Nazis look good by comparison. The only difference is that they do not have the military acumen of the Germans. Ask yourself this:

Where would my white, red-haired, and attractive daughter be treated with more dignity and respect? In Sodomy Arabia or in Korporal Hitler's Germany? I wouldn't want her in either place, but she would be safer in Adolf's Germania.

We should also remind ourselves that when the Arabs did, relatively speaking, have the military power, they did, according to some writers of history, commit the biggest genocide in the history of mankind by slaughtering an estimated 80 million Hindus in their attempted conquest of India. That conquest was successful enough that we have a partitioned Pakistan today.

I think we should be prepared to play hardball with the Saudis. Their people did 9/11, and their people financed it. 9/11 was just as much an act of war against us as was Hirohito's blessing of the Pearl Harbor attack. For any western government to suggest that the Saudis are our friends is just an obscene lie.

We had no business attacking Saddam. He had nothing to do with 9/11. We would have been even more justified in attacking the Saudis than we were in attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Cheap oil gives us a window of opportunity to be tough with them. They have an achilles heel (fresh water) that gives us plenty of means to be tough with them. Funding to all these radical madrasses should be cut off.
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #14 - December 31, 2008, 01:10 AM

Quote from: gallego on December 31, 2008, 01:04 AM
I cannot think of a more evil regime on this planet that the regime in Sodomy Arabia.

To me, they make the Nazis look good by comparison. The only difference is that they do not have the military acumen of the Germans. Ask yourself this:

Where would my white, red-haired, and attractive daughter be treated with more dignity and respect? In Sodomy Arabia or in Korporal Hitler's Germany? I wouldn't want her in either place, but she would be safer in Adolf's Germania.

Only if she wasn't Jewish. Just thought I'd mention that. If she was Jewish she'd be safer in Saudi Arabia. She would also most likely be reasonably well treated in Saudi Arabia as long as she dressed like the locals, although I admit the treatment of women in that country leaves something to be desired.

By the way, we do have some Saudi members here and they are decent people. Please use the country's correct name when describing it. Thank you.

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We should also remind ourselves that when the Arabs did, relatively speaking, have the military power, they did, according to some writers of history, commit the biggest genocide in the history of mankind by slaughtering an estimated 80 million Hindus in their attempted conquest of India. That conquest was successful enough that we have a partitioned Pakistan today.

Yes, and they weren't the only people in history to kill large numbers of their enemies.

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #15 - December 31, 2008, 04:59 AM

By the way Gallego, this:

Quote from: gallego on December 30, 2008, 07:19 PM
(5) If they abuse the foreigners that are there, we should remin them that one missile could take out Mecca.

Is perilously close to a flagrant breach of this:

Quote from: Da Rules
3/ Calls for genocide, or for the deaths of innocents.

Once again, not acceptable. No warnings will be given for this offense. A smite will be issued immediately.
This includes, but is not limited to, death threats to other members and promoting things like "honour killings".

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #16 - December 31, 2008, 06:26 PM

Quote from: osmanthus on December 31, 2008, 04:59 AM
By the way Gallego, this:

Quote from: gallego on December 30, 2008, 07:19 PM
(5) If they abuse the foreigners that are there, we should remin them that one missile could take out Mecca.

Is perilously close to a flagrant breach of this:

Quote from: Da Rules
3/ Calls for genocide, or for the deaths of innocents.

Once again, not acceptable. No warnings will be given for this offense. A smite will be issued immediately.
This includes, but is not limited to, death threats to other members and promoting things like "honour killings".

You are really stretching things to suggest that I am advocating genocide. If I were to advocate that, I would just come out and say it.

I am saying that we should be prepared to take the Saudi regime by the scruff of the neck. Their oil money is funding madrasses around the world that are preaching death to the infidel. The Saudi regime is an insult to humanity, and we should stop treating them like some "protected species".

Reminding them of the power that we possess does not amount to advocating the use of that power, any more than reminding the Soviets of NATO strategic power was advocating genocide of Russians during the Cold War. History shows that it is wise to keep your powder dry when dealing with people who don't like you.
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #17 - December 31, 2008, 09:26 PM

You really are stretching things to claim that what I quoted from the rules only refers to genocide. I think "Calls for the death of innocents" comes pretty close to covering "we should remind them that one missile could take out Mecca".

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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #18 - January 03, 2009, 01:58 AM

Quote from: osmanthus on December 31, 2008, 09:26 PM
You really are stretching things to claim that what I quoted from the rules only refers to genocide. I think "Calls for the death of innocents" comes pretty close to covering "we should remind them that one missile could take out Mecca".

I have never called for the death of innocents.

The point I made (i.,e,, reminding them) is perfectly valid. It is well supported by history.

Remember the strategic chess game of the cold war?

I was all for the maintenance of the NATO nuclear triad during the cold war (ICBM's, strategic bombers, and ballistic submarines). Even if the Soviets, in a surprise pre-emptive attack, had managed to take out both the ICBM silos and the strategic bomber bases, the third leg of the triad was virtually invulnerable. The ballistic submarines were virtually undetectable.

I remember what Carter said during his presidency. It was 30 years ago, but I remember reading this in either Time Magazine or Newsweek. At that time NATO had 40 of those types of submarines in their fleet. At any given time 15 were at sea. Any two of those could destroy every major city in the Soviet Union. Carter said that publicly. In so doing, he was reminding the Soviets that there would be consequences no matter what they did. I am sure there were people in Moscow who could read English in Time and/or Newsweek as well as I could.

Does that mean that Carter was in any way advocating the genocide of innocents in making such a statement (i.e., reminding the American public, and in so doing reminding the Soviets)? Do you think Carter was prejudiced? Of course not! He was just reassuring the American people that he was keeping his powder dry.

It is not abusive at all to remind anybody (or country or regime) that if they do something we don't like, there will be consequences. I am concerned for the safety of the millions of foreign (and mostly kufar) foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. If the saudis become abusive of them, then there damn well should be consequences.

And speaking for myself, I don't like what the Saudis do. Is there a regime on this planet that is more abusive of human rights? I don't so, and I don't think I am alone in that sentiment. By supporting these radical and murderous madrasses around the world with their oil money (according to Baal...about $80 billion), they are not our friends. I don't have to like it, and I feel perfectly free to say I don't like it.

By the way, do you think it's a stretch to believe that the Israelis have a nuke pointed at Mecca? We are hypothesizing consequences again. I don't know that they do, but in the event that Iran gets nukes and tries to use them on Israel, what do you think Israel would do? I rather suspect that the Israelis are keeping their powder dry too. Do you think Israelis are advocating an Iranian genocide? Some people probably think yes, but I think that if the Israeli regimes of the last 40 years were inclined that way, they would have done it by now.

(Please note, if Iran does get nukes, I don't believe that Israel would be their first priority in terms of whom they want to push around. I think Iran has other fish to fry, but that is the subject of a separate debate).
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Re: Saudi campaign against maid abuse
Reply #19 - January 03, 2009, 10:22 AM

Gallego, you are bullshitting. Your blathering about the complexities of the Cold War and Israeli weapons is irrelevant. Don't insult my intelligence. You wanted to threaten the Saudis with a missile hit on Mecca because some domestic servants in KSA are subject to abuse. That is ridiculous. It is in fact downright evil. It would result in the deaths of many innocent people over a comparatively trivial cause.

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